Gustavo Gutierrez

Gustavo Gutierrez, the "father of liberation theology," is a Peruvian priest of Indian descent. Gutierrez studied theology in Europe before returning to his native Lima to pen the epochal volume A Theology of Liberation, which first enunciated principles of this global theological movement: God's option for the poor, theology from the underside, the power of the poor in history, the importance of social analysis, the primacy of practice over theory.

James B. Nickoloff, who studied and worked with Gutierrez for two years, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts.